Eckert's Raiders
by Jack Cross
Summary: The Russians have invaded, World War Three has begun. But for a Colorado teen and his friends, the Invasion is just the beginning of a long and bloody war. Can he retain his sanity and find love? Or will revenge and hatred forever cloud his vision?
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Red Dawn, but it would be kick ass if i did. Please review and let me know what you think. **

I never realized that it could happen. An enemy army occupying American land. Being the son of a military family, I was well aware of the situation of the world. I thought that World War Three would begin in Europe, not Colorado.

Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Jessie Carter. At the time I was a six foot one, black haired senior in high school. I played starting strong side tackle for the Calumet Wolverines.

This is our story.

It was Monday morning, three days after the previous Friday's defeat. Weather through laziness or just to rub it in the school's face, the game's score and tattered streamers had been left up on the field. I stood by my locker, waiting on my friends Matt Eckert and Arturo Mondragon. Matt's older brother Jed was giving them a ride.

"Morning Jessie James," said Matt as he and Aardvark appeared next to me. I'd earned the nickname Jessie James around school for two reasons; I had a fiery temper and practiced shooting on a regular basis. It was a well-known fact that I always had a Thompson Contender in the glove compartment of my truck.

"Morning Matt, Hey Aardvark," I replied, greeting the two. Unlike Matt, I preferred not to show off that I was apart of the football team by wearing a letterman's jacket, rather wearing a tan carhart jacket instead. Although I did have a repetition for throwing people around when it came to me seeing red.

"Ready for history?" asked Aardvark as we began to walk toward the classroom. I grunted in reply, not to terribly pleased that history was my first class of the day, even though I was good at it.

We were studying the Mongols in history. Posters and maps relating to them were pinned up on almost every wall. At the back of the classroom, a line of windows that showed the parking lot and football field served as the wall.

"Now all this killing went on until the young son of the Kahn asked his father that the last creature..," the teacher said before stopping in mid sentence, looking out the windows behind us. A look of puzzlement came over his face as he began to advance through the desks, trying in vain to complete his sentence.

Matt, Aardvark, and I turned and looked out the windows, along with the rest of the class. Paratroopers were landing on the football field and surrounding areas. A magenta colored smoke was billowing up on the field as men on the ground began to race around.

As the teacher left to go and talk to the troopers, the rest of the class clustered near the windows. I had seen paratroopers practicing before my family had moved to Calumet, and something about these troopers set me on edge.

"What do ya think Jess, ROTC guys blow off course?" asked Matt. I shook my head in response, still unsure what was bothering me. Then it hit me like a freight train. The weapons the troopers had, I had seen them before in footage and photos taken during Vietnam. They were weapons of communists.

"They're not American, Matt," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder in an effort to pull him away from the window.

"You sure Jessie?" asked Aardvark. By now we could see the teacher approaching one of the troopers, who was kneeling and watching the school. The trooper leveled his RPK and fired a burst into the teacher, causing the unarmed man to cry out before he felt spread eagle on his back.

I spread my wingspan out and dragged as many others as I could to the floor while the trooper turned his weapon and emptied it through the windows.

"Does that answer your question?" I half shouted as we ran in a crouched position away from the windows and shattering glass. As we exited the classroom, I took notice of one student still leaning against what was once solid glass. No doubt he had been killed before he even realized what was happening.

Screams and panicked students filled the hallways. Matt and Aardvark stuck close to me as we made our way toward the front doors. An RPG suddenly flew from around a corner ahead of us and slammed into a wooden set of double doors. The explosion blew the doors into splinters and set three students sprawling as well as shattering a trophy case that stood nearby.

As Aardvark ran out the door first, one of the troopers appeared around the corner. In true football style, Matt slammed into the trooper, saving Aardvark's life as Matt and the trooper went sprawling. Reaching down, I picked up the AK 47 the trooper had dropped before turning it and firing at two more troopers, emptying the weapon into them.

I dropped the AK again before we took off across the parking lot. The other two split off from me as I ran for my ford, which was parked near the end of the line of cars in the direction of town. Throwing the passenger door open, I opened the glove compartment and pulled my Contender out.

Looking up, I spotted Jed's blue Silverado skidding on the gravel of the parking lot at the far end of the line of cars. Ignoring the RPG that soared overhead, I climbed into the bed of my truck and waved my arms over my head.

"Get in!" Jed shouted as he slowed the truck slightly. Ignoring the risk of falling and breaking my nose, I bounded off my tailgate and into the bed of the Silverado.

"You really do have a pistol in your truck, said a young freshman, Danny. I ignored him as I sat against the back cab window and broke the barrel on the Contender open. Being in a rush, I had forgotten to grab the box of .30-30 rounds I kept under the seat for the pistol.

Downtown Calumet was an honest to God warzone. Steams of black smoke poured into the sky as several cars burned and more troopers began to herd many people together. One trooper, having just finished tucking an M1911 into his belt, stepped out from behind a station wagon and raised his hand as a motion for Jed to stop the truck.

While Jed steered the truck around the trooper, I took an opportunity to flip the bird toward the trooper, leaving him with a bewildered look on his face. Turning, I felt my eyes go wide before I gripped the metal bar in front of me.

"Wire!" I shouted. Jed slammed on the breaks and spun the wheel, causing the truck to slid and turn in order to avoid the barbwire that had been stung across the road.

"Jessie give us a hand here," said Danny as he and the others struggled to keep Aardvark from climbing out of the speeding truck.

"Papa!" Aardvark shouted back up the road, in the direction of a man who looked like an older version of him. In an instant, paratroopers had swarmed Aardvark's father and captured him. But nonetheless, he still struggled to climb out of the truck.

"We can't help him right now," I grunted as I rapped my arm around Aardvark's neck and pulled him back into the truck. I ignored him while he kicked and fought to break free, only releasing him when he had finally calmed down.

By now we were on the road leading out of town and headed for a filling station. One of the guys, Robert, leapt out of the bed of the truck and almost tackled the shop owner, his father.

"Do you have any idea who they are?" asked Robert's father, looking at the rest of us.

"I heard a few of them speaking Spanish," said Danny as he climbed out of the bed. A loud bang filled the air, causing all of us to turn and look back toward town. An orange fireball was rising up over the ridge.

"You boys get in there and get food and sleeping bags, get everything," Robert's father said, causing all of us to pour into the shop. I immediately went behind the counter and brought up a box of .30-30 ammo. Breaking the barrel on my Contender open again, I slid one of the rounds in before closing the barrel with a click.

As I dumped the rest of the rounds into my pocket, I looked up and took notice of a hatchet hanging next to the gun case. Grabbing this, I stuck it through my belt along with my contender before turning and handing the rifles and shotguns over the counter to Daryl and Matt.

Running back outside, we began to pile our supplies into the bed of the Silverado.

"Get down," said Jed, causing all of us to crouch and use the truck as cover as a helicopter soared passed, heading for the town.

"Is it ours?" asked Robert as we looked up.

"A Huey, it might be," I replied before we climbed into the truck. Jed started the truck as Aardvark began to load the lever action deer rifle.

"You boys don't come back here, not for anything," said Robert's father as the truck was put into gear and pulled out of the filling station, beginning our journey to the mountains ahead of us.


	2. Chapter 2

**As always, please review and let me know what you think. **

"Its ours!" shouted Matt as a helicopter lay waist to an enemy roadblock. Jed had turned the truck off the road a few moments before, allowing us to sit in the middle of the pasture where we were now. Everyone cheered as Aardvark worked the action on his deer rifle and fired a shot a barricade.

Everyone quickly pilled back into the truck as Jed started it again and we took off again. The ride was bumpy and uncomfortable with the truck reacting to every little dint in the landscape. After a while, the truck began to make a sputtering noise.

"Damn radiator," Jed muttered as he brought the truck to a halt again. Jed, Matt, Robert, and Daryl crowded around the front of the truck as Jed opened the hood. Aardvark stood near the tailgate, still holding his rifle. Daryl stood by the driver's side door, looking through a pair of binoculars he had snatched from the store.

He looked pathetic with the price tag still dangling down over his nose. Granted I had never cared much for Daryl in the first place. He was always trying to apply school politics to life. Finally, I reached down and snatched the binoculars away from his face before tearing off the tag and handing them back to him.

"You look like an idiot with that," I said before returning my attention to the front of the truck.

"Well this is kind of a pain in the ass," muttered Jed as he tinkered under the hood.

"You're the one who plowed us through a barbwire fence," I said, grinning as he looked up and glared at me. Turning, I shifted the Contender a bit through my belt. Aardvark looked back for a moment, taking notice of the gun.

"I can't believe that you actually had that in your glove box," he said. I shrugged before I pulled it out and broke the barrel. This was the third time I had checked it since we left the filling station. Something about the pistol being in my hands made me feel alive and powerful.

Part of me wanted the enemy to come, so I could kill as many of them as possible. The other part of me was horrified at this, not wanting to be a sadistic killer. I guess I was hoping that the military would be able to drive them back quickly. But I knew that it would be a long time before the Army could do anything, seeing as how the Invaders had made it this far inland.

"Well that should do it, only problem is that we don't have any water," said Jed. I snapped the barrel closed on the Contender and thrust it back through my belt.

"How 'bout pissin in it?" asked Matt. Both Jed and I let out a laugh.

"That sounds crazy enough to work," I said, leaning forward. Jed shook his head, grinning the whole time.

"Not a bad idea at all, get up here kid," said Jed, motioning to Danny.

"How do you know it will work?" he asked.

"How old are you kid?"

"Fifteen. And my name's Danny, not kid."

"Well Danny, when you grow up you'll know these things now get over here and piss in the radiator," said Jed before guiding Danny over and hosting him up onto the front of the truck. I laughed again as I turned and looked back out over the fields.

Time seemed to blur as we made our way up into the mountains. Jed and Matt took careful time concealing the truck while I led the others to the campsite. Pulling the hatchet from my belt, I set to building a fire to protect us from the chilly mountain air. After a while, Jed came and took over while I set to gathering more wood.

When I returned, I could hear Danny whining underneath the tree. Once the pressure was off, he cracked like an egg. Jed returned from the truck with the radio we were going to use. A bullet had smashed the back portion, rendering it useless.

"Stopped a bullet that might have hit someone," he said before he tossed it on the ground and walked over to start putting more sticks on the fire.

"I have these!" said Robert triumphantly, holding up a pair of headphones from around his neck.

"Oh yeah those will do us a lot of good," said Daryl, talking down to him. My hand slipped up onto the handle of my gun at this, sensing trouble.

"As Calumet student body president, I forward motion that we give ourselves up," he continued.

"I second the motion, we cant stay here, I mean we need stuff," said Danny as he jumped to his feet, standing next to Daryl.

"Sit down Danny!" snapped Jed as he broke another branch across his kneecap. Danny quickly sat back down at this.

"No one's going anywhere," Jed added as he looked up.

"This isn't the big game Mr. Quarterback, he can do whatever he wants," said Daryl. Jed quickly got to his feet, the tension in the air building.

"No," he said again, colder then before.

"Your such a jock!" said Daryl, an attempt at venom in his voice before he threw a pair of gloves, hitting Jed in the shoulder. He then jumped at Jed over the fire, but Jed twisted his arm and threw him back across the campsite. Daryl made to get back up, but he froze when he heard the hammer on the Contender cock.

"You want to leave so bad go on, take your shit!" said Jed, throwing a bag at Daryl.

"That goes for the rest of ya. It is World War Three down there, people are being killed. I mean you think your so smart man, but you're just a bunch of scared kids," he said, turning to all of us.

"What do you think you are Jed?" asked Danny.

"Alone I guess," came the reply. Matt stepped forward, putting his hand his brother's shoulder.

"Your not alone," he said. Robert stepped forward as well, adding his two cents to them. I eased the hammer forward on the Contender before jamming it back through my belt.

"What the hell, I'll chip in for a couple months," I said. Both Jed and Matt nodded in approval at this. Turning, Jed looked at the remaining three standing there in an awkward silence.

"Now the rest of you get goin," said Jed. None of them so much as twitched in movement, showing that they didn't want to go.

"All right, but if you stay, you'll do exactly what I say, understand?" he added. The others nodded in agreement with this.

"Now come over here and get warm," he said, allowing the others to approach the fire. Jed waited for a moment to let them warm up before he spoke.

"Matt, Jessie, and I all have experience with these mountains, we can hunt, we can fish, we can stay up here a very long time," he said.

"How long Jed?" asked Danny. With that a jet raced overhead, causing all of us to look up and watch it go.

"Till we don't hear that no more," Jed answered.


	3. Chapter 3

**As always, please review and let me know what you think.**

I knelt next to the campfire, stoking it up with twigs and sticks before I rubbed my hands near the flames. Daryl, Danny, and Aardvark all lounged nearby under the log overhang Jed, Matt, and I had built. A shot suddenly rang out, echoing off the mountainsides and causing me to grin. Robert had wanted to go hunting since we got up here and had finally gotten to since I had agreed to stay in camp.

It was hard to believe that a month had already passed since it had all began. I had no idea what had happened to my parents. No doubt my dad would be fighting with the Army, as for my mother, I didn't know.

Some time passed before the three returned from hunting. So much so that the sun was sinking behind the horizon. Jed tossed me some deer meat in order to cook. Robert had dried blood around his mouth, causing me to grin.

"Spirit of the deer?" I asked. He nodded, grinning. I had proven my hunting skills shortly after we arrived, downing a deer on the run with my Contender.

"That's the last of it," said Daryl as he poured the last can of Campbell's into a pot. This sparked a sort argument that I ignored as I formed the dear meat into patties before placing them a frying pan. Finally, Daryl said the only thing that made sense.

"We need to know." I looked up at this, watching Jed's reaction. To my surprise, he nodded in agreement. I had expected him to try and continue our isolation, but I guess separation from civilization for this long was taking effect.

"Matt, Jessie, Robert, and I will go into town tomorrow. We'll find out everything we can and bring back supplies," he said. This seemed to sit well with the others. I nodded in agreement with this, as I was their best chance at identifying various threats.

The night passed quicker then expected, even though I got little to no sleep. Robert came and got me around Three AM, starting our trip down the mountain. Despite stumbling and almost falling several times, we made our way down in the dark.

An orange light was filling the sky behind us when we reached the pastures between the mountains and Calumet. The sun had risen higher in the sky when we where approaching the outskirts. Rusting relics of tanks and jeeps sat on a ridge-overlooking town. Old impact craters around them confirmed the fact that a battle had definitely taken place.

"Looks like its been here for a thousand years," said Matt as he climbed on top of the tank. Robert opened some metal compartments along the side, but found only dust. Together, we made our way over to a small embankment, settling down as Jed brought up the binoculars to study the town below.

"Those shops are open, there's people everywhere," said Matt.

"Maybe its over," said Robert as he tried to climb over the embankment and make his way down to the town. The three of us rushed to quickly pull him back below the embankment. After he calmed down, we looked back over the embankment. On the main road near town, a military convoy was rolling past.

"Those aren't ours," said Jed, pointing at the vehicles.

"How do you know?" asked Robert.

"They're not ours," I confirmed, studying the convoy through the riflescope. Jed lowered the binoculars and nudged me slightly.

"That's one weird looking tank," he said, pointing at one of the tanks.

"It's for anti air, taking down choppers mainly," I replied. I couldn't see his reaction, so I left it at that, still studying the convoy.

"We'll leave the guns here," Jed finally said. I lowered the scope and looked up at him, bewithered.

"You're still wanting to go down there?" I asked. He nodded as he sat the revolver he always carried on the ground.

"Want to go back to camp?" he asked. I shook my head, looking back down the hill.

"You got guts Jed, I'll give you that," I replied before I pulled the Contender from my belt and sat it next to the other weapons. We descended into town, keeping quiet as best we could as we walked. It wasn't until we reached Main Street that we began to talk amongst ourselves.

Barbwire barricades lined the street in several areas. A T72 in Russian colors sat on a side street, surrounded by various troopers. Red banners with gold lettering hung from a few buildings, proclaiming the supposed evils of America and attempting to recruit the locals. A few troopers in officer's coats down the street were throwing books in to a barrel with flames roaring out of the town. A convertible carrying several high-ranking officials passed us and rounded the next corner ahead of us.

"That's the mayor's car, they got Daryl's dad's car!" said Robert in surprise as he watched the car move up the street.

"Look at the size of that tank," said Jed as he glanced at the tank. We continued to walk, attempting to talk to various townspeople we recognized. But rather then say anything in reply; they gave us a wide berth like we were carrying a deadly decease.

This behavior put me on edge, causing me to tinker with my belt where the Contender usually sat. I had seen the same type of behavior in school, when a bully was targeting a new victim. Quickly, we ducked off the street and into a shop.

"Six tooth brushes please," said Jed to the woman behind the counter. I didn't recognize her, so I turned my attention to the rest of the store. I quickly elbowed Jed when I took notice of a man standing on a balcony overhead, watching us. Judging by his uniform, I figured he was either an officer or KGB.

Jed lowered his voice and began to talk to the woman again. Both Matt and I watched the man until he disappeared over the railing. We continued to watch until Jed tapped us both on the shoulder, a signal to leave, which we quickly did. With out so much as a question, we began to follow Jed in a new direction.

"They're keeping prisoners in the old drive in Movie Theater," he finally said after a few blocks. I shot a glance at Matt, who returned it.

"Jed, even if any of our parents are there we can't get them out," I said. He didn't turn, but his shoulders did slouch a bit.

"I know," he finally said.


End file.
